3 Review(s)

Postoperative infectious complications (PICs) occur frequently after major abdominal surgery. PICs have a major influence on patient outcomes and hospital costs. A timely diagnosis of infectious complications is associated with a lower morbidity and mortality rate. However, early clinical features of postoperative infections are often nonspecific and difficult to distinguish from the normal postoperative inflammatory response related to surgical trauma. A biological marker that can predict infectious complications before clinical signs and symptoms develop could be of clinical value. A higher ratio of C-reactive protein to albumin is associated with a higher probability of postoperative complications and has higher diagnostic accuracy than C-reactive protein alone among patients undergoing abdominal surgery.